Aamer troubles set to mount as PCB refuses help

The Pakistan Cricket Board has refused to extend any support to pacer Mohammad Aamer, whose five-year ban for involvement in spot-fixing could be extended by the ICC after he allegedly violated the terms of his suspension by turning up in a club game in England.

"PCB's reluctance to get involved in the issue now, even if the ICC extended Aamer's ban, was because last year when the ICC special task force was formed on Pakistan cricket, one of the conditions set forth to the PCB was that it would never show support of any sort for tainted players," a source revealed.

The England and Wales Cricket Board, which along with the ICC is investigating the matter, has already ruled that the concerned match between Addington and St Lukes in a Surrey division one league fixture was a recognised one.

The ECB has said that the Surrey League is affiliated to it, which makes it official cricket, even if it is at the lower end of the amateur game.

Aamer has claimed his innocence insisting that he didn't know he was breaching his suspension terms by playing in what he thought was just a "friendly village match".

"PCB had written to its English counterpart when the issue first came up. And the ECB said it would get back after completing its investigations, but so far it has not sent anything," the source said.

"PCB sees the whole episode as a direct matter between Aamer, the ICC and ECB," he revealed.

"The situation was not good for Aamer as few months back the ICC had warned the fast bowler after it was reported that he played in a friendly in Rawalpindi," he added.